Piecemeal 'improvements' won't yield 21st century education

Last Monday evening I attended the joint meeting between the Waynesboro school board and the City Council. I think if all of us paid more attention I wouldn’t have witnessed what I did.

Last year it was announced that the city would renovate the high school in lieu of building a new one. I spoke with City Council members and they assured me that the renovations would be state-of-the-art and make the high school efficient, comfortable and lead to greater achievement for our students. I learned to live with that decision.

I attended the school board meeting because I was interested in seeing the proposed additions to Waynesboro High School. They were impressive. As an instructional designer and educator I saw innovations in design that fit the current trends in education such as movable furniture, well-lit and equipped classrooms, hallways that promote community, and plenty of places to use technology. The outside of the design fit perfectly with downtown Waynesboro and would be a place of pride for all of us.
It was difficult not to get excited. Finally, Waynesboro would have a 21st century facility for 21st century students.

Then the shoe fell. We aren’t getting the renovations. We are getting a piece-meal series of additions that do little to increase the functionality and efficiency of the learning environment. The proposed changes include adding on to the back of the theatre and creating a new and security conscious entrance to the building. We need these.

But we also need a new library, classrooms with adequate electricity, and resources comparable to other schools in the area and throughout the state. We are told we cannot have this because of the need to increase teacher pay (which we also desperately need) and for other infrastructure and development projects in the city.

Once again we are balancing our budget on the futures of our children. We are almost a quarter of the way through the 21st century; if we wait any longer the century will have passed us by. We owe it to our youth to give them the educational opportunities they deserve as Americans.